NEAHTAWANTA CENTER

The NREC Board of Directors consists of 20 members who are listed below. The local board members make up the working board, meeting quarterly or more often as needed, to conduct the day to day business of running the Center. The out- of- town board members are consulted via email on decisions of importance and are always welcome at our board meetings when they can travel here.

NREC is fortunate to have a board with broad and varied skills, talents, knowledge and life experience. Over half of the board of directors has served NREC for the past 20 years (or longer!).

Board of Directors

Robert Tinker

Board Member

Stephanie Mills

Board Member

David Krumlauf

President

Bree Russell Carscadden

Treasurer

Terry Donahue Cousins

Board Member

Sandi McArthur

Board Member

Sally Van Vleck

Director

Dave Reinhart

Board Member

Kate Thornhill

Board Member

Joan D’Argo

Secretary

Nancy Gallagher

Board Member

Jeff Anderson

Board Member

Ben Drake

Board Member

Michael Cline

Board Member

Stephen E. Cousins

Board Member

Mary Ann Reinhart

Board Member

Gary Howe

Board Member

Jeff Anderson

Jeff Anderson is a self employed carpenter, gardener and amateur winemaker who lives in a small intentional community near the village of Cedar, MI. He has long believed in the concepts of sustainability and resiliency. He is an advocate for small homes, local food and strong communities. Jeff is married to Sandi McArthur.

Gary Howe

Gary Howe is an advocate for people focused public spaces. He is in his first term as a City Commissioner for Traverse City. He is an adjunct instructor in the Social Science Department at Northwestern Michigan College and also a freelance photojournalist and writer. He enjoys herding his beagle through the woods and seldom passes a food truck with ordering a taco or some other delicious mobile treat.

Mary Ann Reinhart

Mary Ann Reinhart is a psychologist with special interests in human development and the measurement and advancement of successful approaches to life. She has loved and supported NREC over the past 20 years for its life giving advocacy of peace, justice, resilience, and the planet itself.

Bree Russell Carscadden

Bree is Bob Russell’s daughter and is currently the Treasurer of the Board. She works as the Human Resource and Payroll Administrator at an Automotive Group. She has a Health Care Administration Bachelors Degree from Ashford University.Bree grew up in Traverse City, MI and currently lives in Grand Rapids, MI with her husband, Donny Carscadden.

David Krumlauf

David is an old biology teacher, ISP owner and now Chief Technologist of a private Chicago-based foundation. He is a longtime board member and is the current President of the Board. He lives in a greenbuilt home in NW lower Michigan with his wife Joan D'Argo.

Robert Tinker

Robert Tinker, formerly a partner with Kelly-Tinker Architects (19 years) and president of Archiopolis Architects (5 years), is a Registered Architect in the State of Michigan (#33330) with LEED AP certification. He now operates an independent business called Tinker Energy. Bob has worked in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy most of his career. He currently works in partnership with Michigan Energy Options on three projects: the Pilot Commercial Energy Audit for Restaurants for the Lansing Board of Water & Light; the Farm Services Energy Optimization Program for the Michigan Electrical Cooperative Association; and the Pilot Energy Savers Multifamily Program for Consumers Energy.

Sandi McArthur

Sandi McArthur: Long time Neahtawanta Board member and supporter, passionate about food, the environment and the intricate ways we are all connected.

Kate Thornhill

Kate Thornhill is a recently retired CPA. Of more significance, is her more than three decades of friendship with Bob and Sally. As a result of admiring Bob's early environmental protection activities, Kate was an early member of the NMEAC board and part of the 1986 Bay View Mall litigation that prevented a mall from being built along the bay in downtown Traverse City. She was involved in the formation of Inland Seas Education Association, the Leelanau Trail Association and later served for many years on the TART board.

Dave Reinhart

Dave Reinhart was a teacher and administrator in Michigan public schools for 42 years before his retirement. He devoted his educational career to the children and parents that needed the most love, support, and care, beginning with an active involvement in the desegregation of the public schools in the early 1970s. Dave remains a strong supporter of NREC and its work, just as he has for the past 20 years.

Terry Donahue Cousins

Terry Donahue Cousins is a Senior Redesign Specialist at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, MI. She has worked in the healthcare setting for over 20 years. As a member of a talented team she works collaboratively with others throughout the organization to find innovative solutions to challenges, eliminate waste and improve the delivery of healthcare.
Terry enjoys being close to nature and spending time with "wise ones" like her mother and her dog Bailey. She is married to Steve and they have 2 really cool children. Terry is committed to the work of NREC and looks forward to contributing to, and learning from, this community.

Michael Cline

Stephanie Mills

Stephanie Mills has been speaking, editing, writing, and organizing for ecology and social change since 1969. She has produced seven books, including Epicurean Simplicity and On Gandhi’s Path. A longtime bioregionalist Stephanie Mills has written scores of essays and articles appearing in publications from Glamour to The Britannica Book of the Year as well as in numerous anthologies. Active in her community, Mills helped launch a local currency in northwest Lower Michigan, where she has lived since 1984. Featured in the PBS documentary EarthDays, Stephanie Mills holds an honorary doctorate from her alma mater and is a Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute.

Joan D’Argo

Joan D’Argo is a teacher, healer and a coach. In a nutshell, she helps people clear clutter whether it’s physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. She is the secretary of the Center’s board. She lives in Northwest lower Michigan and is married to David Krumlauf.

Ben Drake

Ben Drake, PhD, community educator and activist, has worked with NREC since its founding. He and partner Barbara Strome live in Peachtree City, GA.

Nancy Gallagher

Nancy Gallagher - As a retired birth midwife, and present day death midwife, I find myself drawn to the mission of NREC and to Sally and Bobs’ vision and the village they have made. I have been receiving from their work since it began in 1987 in one way or another with Peace and Environmental activities along with yoga retreats since the early 1990s. It is time, now, for me to give back and partner in a more integral role. My interest in end of life issues, care, along with home funeral and green burial will be a focus that I hope to share and nourish with this group and Beyonda.

Stephen E. Cousins

Steve has been an educator for 32 years. During that time he has been a classroom teacher, social worker, assistant high school principal, middle school principal, assistant superintendent of curriculum and professional development. He has spent the last 11 years as a superintendent of schools. He holds a Bachelors Degree in English and a Masters in Social Work from Michigan State University, and a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University. He has served as superintendent of schools for Muskegon Reeths-Puffer Schools and Traverse City Area Public Schools.
Steve is considered an expert on instruction, professional development, strategic planning and leadership development. He has presented at the National Association of School Administrators Conference, the Michigan Association of School Administrators Conference, the National Service Learning Conference, and the Governor’s Summit, along with many other regional and state conferences. Steve was a member of the STEM Education Committee that established recommendations on curriculum standards to the National Science Foundation. He has represented his professional organization, MASA, as a region president.
As a consultant, Steve has worked with a diverse group of districts throughout the United State such as Galena, Alaska; Colorado Springs Public Schools, Spring Independent School District (Spring, TX); Pasco, Washington; and schools within the Detroit Public Schools.
Steve sits on many community boards, including the United Way of Northwest Michigan and the American Red Cross of Northwest Michigan. He was a recipient of the Community Impact Award by the United Way of the Lakeshore (Muskegon, Michigan) in 2010.

Sally Van Vleck

Sally Van Vleck is currently the executive director of the Neahtawanta Center. She founded the Center in 1987 with her late husband, Bob Russell. They also were co-innkeepers of the Neahtawanta Inn for the past 30 years. She has studied and taught yoga for 35 years and teaches weekly classes as well as yoga sessions for guests at the Inn’s studio She is dedicated to bringing people together to work on issues relating to promoting community resilience, peace and supporting the Earth’s natural systems.